Umbrella rib and runner.



F. W. HOWARD & F. D. AMMENx UMBRELLA RIB AND RUNNER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-5,19H.

Patented Mar. 18, 1919.

FRANK W. HOWARD, 0F YORK,

YORK.

UMBRELLA RIB AND RUNNER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 18, 1919.

Application filed October 5, 1914. Serial No. 865,188.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK W. HOWARD and Flowers D. AMMEN, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, and Flushing, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Umbrella Ribs and Runners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to umbrellas and particularly to the ribs and runners of umbrellas.

A principal object of the invention is to produce an umbrella which will be very efficient but which can be very simply and economically constructed, the general purpose being to enable umbrellas to be manufactured at extremely low cost.

As it concerns the ribs, a principal ob ect of this invention is to provide a construction for the ribs which will enable them to be readily and cheaply constructed by machinery and readily attachable to the umbrella stick or rod, avoiding the necessity for the usual joint at the umbrella crown.

A further object of the invention is to pro-1 duce an umbrella having a neat and compact construction at the crown.

A further object of the invention is to provide a runner of very simple construction which can be readily and very economically manufactured.

A further object of the invention is to provide a runner which can be very simply locked to the stick in order to enable it to hold the umbrella open, without necessitating the use of the usual means attached to the stick for this purpose.

The invention consists in those features and combination of parts hereinafter described, all of which an eflicient umbrella. The invention also resides in themethod of constructing the runher and of attaching it to its contiguous parts.

A preferred embodiment of our invention will be particularly described in the following specification while the broad scope of our invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is avertical section diagrammatically illustrating an umbrella embodying our invention.

contribute to produce Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a sleeve from which the runner is constructed and illus trating the first step in the process of forming the runner.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the complete runner showing certain parts broken away and illustrating the manner in which the runner may be looked upon the stick.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing a locking member or key which is'a feature of the invention. I

Fig. 5 is a plan of the runner showing the ends of the stretchers and illustrating the preferred manner in which they are attached to the runner and also illustrating the stick in cross section. v v

Fig. 6 is a sectional view in three parts, particularly illustrating the manner in which the parts of the umbrella are assembled in attaching the ribs to the stick.

' Fig. 7 is a side elevation showinga modified form of runner.

Fig. 8 is a plan showing a part of the runner illustrated in Fig. 7.

Referring more particularly to the parts, 1 represents the stick or rod of the umbrella which may be of steel but which is preferably of wood. For convenience,-one

end of this stick may be provided with a knob 2 to form a handle. The manner of constructing the ribs of the umbrella will appear most clearly from Figs. 1 and 6. The

ribs are preferably'formed of light resilient material, such as steel wire, and the ribs are preferably formed with rings preferably in the form of coils and are adapted to hold themselves on the stick. The coils are pref erably formed of the same piece of wire with the ribs, the ribs being integrally united with the coils through the medium of an extension having a special-form adapting it to flex freely and thus permitting the movement of the rib necessary to open and close the umbrella. The ribs 3 and 4 are preferably formed in pairs, posite pairs being united by a coil, such as the coil 5; the ends of the coils have integral extensions 6 which are formed so as to flex preferably by simply flattening the wire at this point sothat the face of the flat portion is toward the stick.

The coil 5*, which is illustrated in Fig. 6, at the top has short extensions 7 at the end of the coil which extend along the side of the diametrically opextensions areformed on the coils and 5.

the stick a short distance, and similarishort The length of the dilferent extensions is different, and is such in each case, that if the coils 5*, 5 and 5 are placedionithe Jsti'ckad1 j acent to each other, the flattened extensions 6 of the ribswillrall'liewsubstantiallyioppos site to each other, that is, their middle points Will lie in the same plane'transverse to the eter that 1 they resiliently grip the stick and hold the ribs securely thereto simply b-y forcing them ontothesti'ok.

'Above the position of the coils "when on 1 thestick, W0 preferably provide a bell-shape crown piece-S-Whihreeeives the central porcenter of the cover beingheldagainst the "same by -a ferrule*-1l-or"anyothersultable tion 9 of the umbrella cover 1O, 'th'e said meansseatingon the stick.

These ribs *3 and 4 and the coils connecting them are preferably formed by machinery and in order to facilitate the formation *of all theiparts of the ribs by machinery, We

prefer to form eyes 12 intheribs 'for'the stretchers 13 in the manner indicated in-Fig.

1, that is,-by bending the Wire-so as-to*'form inwardly '-'offset loops and then close *the loops by jamming the shoulders 14- of'=the open loops against each other. The outer edgesof the cover '10 are attached preferably by rings or eyelets-'15 to eyes 16' formcd in the ends of the ribs.

The-runner used with this improved rib may be of any-desired form but We prefer to employ arunner embodying the'inven- '-t-ion disclosed herein. This ru-nneris-pref' "erably "formed from a -plaincyli1fdrical "sleeve 17, OHGBIItl of Whioh-we fornn'vvith 'a plurality of slits18 passing completely through'the Wall. Theseslits 1 are preferably diametrically opposite toceach other and divide" the 'circumference of the sleeve into pluralityoftongues 19. "We thenbend these tongues outwardly at their root 20 so that 7 they "form outwardly and prefer- Kably inclined ex-ten'si0ns"21; the function oftheseextensions is to facilitate the at "-tachment of the runner "t'oithe umbrella 6-0- stretchers 13. In order to accomplish this,

"We prefer to crimp the en ds' :Of the extensions 21 around the ring22 arid between th extensionsyportions of 'the' ring-*are exposed these points -the stretoher's 1 13 may be 'oonthe; extensions 21. In this Way, any unusual force exerting itself as a thrust in the stretchen vvilhbearesisted by all of the extensions because they are tied together by the ring. 7

Inthis umbrella, We contemplate omitting any device near the upper portion of the stick for holdingthe runner up on the stick when the umbrella is in its open condition.- For this reason, We prefer to provide the runner with means for 1 clamping it to i the st-iek-When it is run up on the stick. To this '-'@l1Cl, WG prefer to -provide asimple'locking member, such as the' bent' Wire or {key 2 1, =--whic'his disposed wvithin the sleeve 25 of the runner in thespace between the 1 stick and the Wall of the runner, and extends longitudinally ofthe'runner. Forthisreason, the diameter of the sleeve greater-"thamthat of the stick. Any suitable means is; prdvide'd' "for holding the locking member in position. This ispreferably should be slightly at the upper .end: of the lockingmcrn-ber or key 2 1 Which engages the upper endof the sleeve'25. The low-er end of *thislocking 1 member '24 may have a laterallybent-portion forming; a handle 27-Which enablesthe lookin'g 'key to I be rotated; The locking key is bent or given an yyother suitable irregu- 'lar form, such that when rotated in the proper direction, fit -'Will 3' am against *the stick, on one side, and -againstt-hednher "face of the sleeve on the other side, and by "reason of its resiliency-clamp the runner seourely'to thestick. v

Instead of employing a locking member of tl1e veryg-simple form .described above, we :may produce a runner by-mak-ing a-sleeve -froma blank tube,sueh as shown in 'Fig.

2, butwinstead of employing a simple ring,

- such'as the ring 22, to attach to'the-en 'ds of the extensions atthe upper-end ofthe sleeve,

We may combine I the sleeve with a coil or runner device 28, such as illustrated in Fig.

-' the: ring 33 Which 1 forms, theupper; part of V the runner device 28 and this Iing33iSPreferably integral with the contractile coil 34 which encircles the sleeve 30 and tends normally to exert a constricting force upon the sleeve, causing it to grip the stick. The ring 33 is of relatively large diameter as compared with the diameter of the body 30 of the sleeve. This facilitates the crimping of the ends of the extensions 31 about the ring 33, because the longitudinal curvature of the crimp is reduced. The runner device 28 is preferably formed of wire and near the ends of the coil this wire is bent so as to present extensions 35 and these extensions operate as finger pieces adapted to be pressed toward each other. When so pressed they tend to open the coil, as will be readily understood. Evidently with a runner constructed in this way, the same opportunity is offered by the ring 33 for attaching the stretchers to the runner as in the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 5.

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention described above is only one of the many embodiments our invention may take, and we do not wish to be limited in the practice of the invention nor in the claims to the particular embodiment described.

What we claim is:

1. In an umbrella, in combination, a stick, a rib of resilient material having a reduced part adjacent said stick adapted to flex freely to permit an outward and inward movement of the rib in opening and closing the umbrella, said rib having an integral coil adapted to engage said stick to retain the rib thereupon.

2. In an umbrella, in combination, a stick, a pair of ribs of resilient material having a coil integral therewith connecting the same, and adapted to engage the stick, said ribs having reduced portions adjacent to said stick adapted to flex freely to permit an outward and inward movement of the ribs in opening and closing the umbrella.

3. In an umbrella, in combination, a stick, a plurality of coils of resilient material disposed near each other upon said stick, said coils having integral ribs extending there from with a flattened part adjacent said coils, the flattened parts of said ribs being adapted to flex freely to permit an outward and inward movement of the ribs in opening and closing the umbrella.

4. In an umbrella, in combination, a stick, a plurallty of coils mounted upon said stick,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for a pair of umbrella ribs integral with each coil, said ribs having flattened portions adjacent said coils adapted to flex freely to permit an outward and inward movement of the ribs in opening and closing the umbrella.

5. In an umbrella, in combination, a stick, a plurality of coils mounted upon said stick, a pair of diametrically opposite umbrella ribs formed integrally with the two ends of each of said coils, said ribs having portions adjacent said coils adapted to flex freely to permit an outward and inward movement of the ribs in opening and closing the umbrella.

6. In an umbrella, in combination, a stick, a plurality of coils mounted upon said stick, a pair of umbrella ribs integral with each coil, said ribs having flattened portions adjacent said coils adapted to flex freely to permit an outward and inward movement of the ribs in opening and closing the umbrella, said flattened portions being disposed substantially opposite to each other in a plane transverse to the stick.

7. In an umbrella, in combination, a stick, a runner consisting of a sleeve mounted to slide on said stick, said sleeve having a plurality of outwardly bent integral extensions to be attached to the umbrella stretcher, and a locking key extending longitudinally with the runner, carried in the space between the stick and said sleeve, said locking key being of bent form and operating when rotated to press against the side of the stick and against the inner face of said sleeve, thereby jamming the sleeve on the stick.

8. In an umbrella, in combination, a stick, a plurality of ribs separate from said stick having integral means for engaging the stick to secure the ribs thereto, said ribs having integral portions adj aoent the stick extending substantially longitudinally of the stick and disposed substantially [equidistant around the stick, said portions being adapted to flex freely to permit the movement of the ribs in opening and closing the umbrella.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK W. HOWARD. FRANCIS D. AMMEN.

Witnesses S. ANDREWS, A. DE Mo'r'r.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

flattened 

